Holiday shopping and unionism ​are not mutually exclusive!

While shopping for that perfect gift, you can still do your part to support the nation’s labor movement by buying American-manufactured, union-made products.The AFL-CIO’s Union Label & Service Trades Department is a good place to start.

I hope you all had a smooth start to the school year! Once again, our swag store is back and live! Click on the link provided to enter the store where you will find a variety of apparel options available. Select item(s) of your choice and follow the prompts to independently pay through this secured site. Your items will be individually packaged and labelled, and shipped to the Cottage about two weeks after the store closes.

****Please note: the store is OPEN THROUGH NOVEMBER 9th. In order for orders to be processed, packaged and shipped, the store must be closed. ****

​If you have any questions, I ask that you please make sure that I have not already answered them in the passage above, so as to limit the amount of emails received, which may hinder my response time. Thank you for your time!

Cindy PavlicGNTA Social Outreach Committee (SOC) Chair

GNTA selection committee training - Thursday, october 25, 4 PM @SMS

Sisters and brothers.

Now more than ever Public School Employees needed to have their voices heard. Whatever your political affiliations, we send a message as public school educators because WE VOTE.

great neck welcomes new teachers!

Dinapoli: Tax cap set at 2 percent

Property tax levy growth for local governments with fiscal years that close on Dec. 31 will be capped at 2 percent for the 2019 fiscal year, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. This figure affects the tax cap calculations for all counties, towns, fire districts, 44 cities and 10 villages.

"For these local governments, allowable levy growth will be 2 percent for the first time since 2013," DiNapoli said. "Despite the possibility of increased tax revenue, municipal budgets will still be vulnerable to rising fixed costs and potential federal funding cuts. Local officials should proceed cautiously when crafting their spending plans for next year."

The tax cap, which first applied to local governments in 2012, limits tax levy increases to the lesser of the rate of inflation or 2 percent with some exceptions, including a provision that allows municipalities to override the tax cap.

During the 2014 through 2018 fiscal years, municipalities with a fiscal year ending on Dec. 31 had their levy growth capped at less than 2 percent.​For a list of allowable levy growth factors for all local governments, visit: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/realprop/pdf/inflation_allowablegrowthfactors.pdfFind out how your government money is spent at Open Book New York. Track municipal spending, the state's 145,000 contracts, billions in state payments and public authority data. Visit the Reading Room for contract FOIL requests, bid protest decisions and commonly requested data.

7 Things to Know About the Supreme Court Decision That Just Slammed Teachers' Unions

The U.S. Supreme Court just dealt teachers' unions a heavy blow with a decision in the Janusv. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31case. Here's what you need to know:

1. The justices ruled to prohibit unions from charging nonmembers "agency" or "fair share" fees. Up until today, teachers' unions and other public-employee unions charged fees to employees who chose not to join the union but were still represented in collective bargaining. The union's argument for the fees was that nonmembers are still benefitting from collective bargaining, so they should have to pay something. The justices ruled that forcing employees to pay fees to a union they don't support is a violation of their First Amendment rights.

2. The justices also ruled that unions cannot deduct fees from employees' paychecks without their express consent. This part of the decision goes beyond what most court watchers were expecting, and it deepens the blow to unions. In some states, teachers have just a limited window of time in which they can tell their union they want to drop their membership. That rule would have been challenged in court had the Janusdecision not addressed it. But now, teachers will have to affirmatively opt into paying dues to the union. ​3. The ruling was 5-4. Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote the majority opinion. He was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, and Neil M. Gorsuch. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the dissent and was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor. 4. Just about half the country will be affected by the Supreme Court decision. Here are the 22 states that allow unions to charge agency fees to nonmembers:

6. Unions will be taking their fight to the state legislatures. Already, Democratic lawmakers in about a half-dozen states have introduced or passed legislation that seeks to protect unions from the Supreme Court decision. For example, several states have enacted laws that require schools to allow teachers' unions to meet with new teachers, so labor representatives can pitch the unions' services. Other states, like New York, have specified what services unions are obligated to provide (or not provide)to nonmembers. Now that the Supreme Court decision is out, we can expect more union-friendly bills to be proposed.

7. This ruling could make unions more responsive to their members. At least one analysis showed that when state unions lose the right to collect agency fees, representatives tend to do more outreach to teachers to convince them to join. Katharine Strunk, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University, said unions might now shift their policy priorities to better reflect what their members want.

Teachers' unions have been working for the past year to engage their members and urge them to recommit. In an interview, California Teachers Association President Eric Heins said he plans to step up the union's efforts to reach out to nonmembers and connect with their values in the wake of the Janus ruling. "When you talk about values, ... that really transcends political lines and political ideology," he said.

Heins added that CTA will try to fight against what he expects to be an organized campaign to convince members to drop out of the union."Our work is very relational, it's all about our relationships [with members]," he said. Check out our longer story on the ruling as well as all of Education Week's coverage leading up to the Janus decision. And stand by for continued updates as more analysis and reactions roll in.